TO EACH HIS OWN

 It's amazing how a remark in passing can trigger a totally different memory!

The old man was playing golf with two friends. In front of them was a foursome. After four holes, two of the foursome called it quits while the other two continued. After one hole, they cut short to the 8th hole and finding the tee occupied, moved somewhere else out of sight of the old man's threesome. Confused by this odd behaviour, one of the threesome remarked, "To each his own."

That was enough to take the old man 70 years back in time. In the early 1950s, there used to be a programme on Radio Ceylon which played numbers requested by its listeners usually dedicated to a near and dear one on a birthday, anniversary or just to express love. The signature tune for the programme was a 1946 hit, "To Each His Own", sung by a group called The Ink Spots. That song itself was good enough to be heard again and again as a sheer poem of delightfully lovely verses. It was short and sweet, so here it is in full:

'A rose must remain with the sun and the rain

Or its lovely promise won't come true,

To each his own, to each his own

And my own is you.

What good is a song if the words don't belong

And a dream must be a dream for two.

No good alone, to each his own

For me there's you.

If a flame is to grow there must be a glow,

To open each door there's a key

I need you I know, I can't let you go

Your touch means too much to me.

Two lips must insist on two more to be kissed

Or they'll never know what love can do.

To each his own, I've found my own

One and only you.'

A SEA VIEW

Repeating my piece published in Times of India on 30 November 2010. May interest you .

26 November will mark two years since terrorists struck the Taj in Mumbai and tried to decimate the hotel. They failed to break the spirit of the Taj and whatever damage they caused has been repaired and the hotel functions smoothly again. As an old seadog, I have my own memories of the hotel.

In the years before the old Bombay shoreline got cluttered up with ungainly skyscrapers, naval officers were familiar with the Taj as a navigational landmark whether they visited the hotel or not. The Taj Dome was a prominent spot on the naval chart (map) and was frequently used for taking a bearing to fix the position of the ship, checking the compass error by using it as a transit with another landmark such as the Rajabhai Clocktower, or for making a run-in for anchoring the ship. 

The Taj though is within walking distance from the Naval Dockyard and that makes it very accessible to naval personnel. The Sea Lounge was a frequent haunt from where one could look back at one’s own ship and at ships coming in and out of the harbour.

On one occasion we had a cocktail party on board which went on late into the night. Three of us, Jayanto Roychowdhry, Tally-ho Talwar and I decided to go out and eat at the Sea Lounge. We ordered Swedish Open Sandwiches and the waiter brought a big tray with a large assortment of them. We all had one each and were hesitating to have more when Roy Chow averred we could eat as many as we liked and would only be charged for one much like a buffet. So we had three to four each and when the bill came we were stupefied to see that we had been charged for each and every piece! As only Tally-ho was carrying his wallet, he had to shell out the cash for which he curses us to this day!

When one wanted to impress a girlfriend, there was the Blow-Up, India’s first real discotheque. The music and the psychedelic lights were mind-blowing. With songs like the Rolling Stones’ “I can’t get no satisfaction”, the night would be most satisfactorily spent.

Very late at night with all its restaurants closed, the Taj provided a reference point for the Bade Miyan stall which was located just behind the hotel building. Fresh, succulent kababs could be had there till the early hours of the morning at very affordable prices. The Navy was introduced to it by 'Pedro' Khanna, a roly-poly bachelor who frequented the place often. Bade Miyan became so popular that he would be called on board to cater for parties. I believe his son is following in his father's footsteps.

I am now only an occasional visitor to Mumbai. When I do, I hope the Sea Lounge will serve Swedish Open Sandwiches and this time I will happily pay for more than one! 

REMEMBERING ADMIRAL CHATTERJI

 

Today, 22 November, is Admiral A.K.Chatterji's birth anniversary. Time to remember this extraordinary naval officer. 

I had written two pieces on him which were included in the book "The Admiral Who Shed His Vice". The title was based on his promotion from Vice Admiral to an Admiral. Here, I have combined my two pieces in one for those who may not have seen them and may be interested to read about him and my association with him.

In May 1965, I was cooling my heels in a cushy job as a Divisional Officer at 'J' Squadron, NDA Kharakvasla, looking after 100-odd cadets. Out of the blue, one fine morning I was summoned to the Battalion Commander’s office and told to catch the first available train to New Delhi for an interview for the appointment of Flag Lt to the Commandant, National Defence College (NDC). At that time, I did not even know what NDC stood for and who its Commandant was!

On arrival at the NDC, I met the incumbent Flag Lt who eyed me commiseratingly and hastened to add that he had played no part in disturbing me out of my peaceful stay in Kharakvasla and that the Commandant, Vice Admiral AK Chatterji had picked my name out of the short list forwarded by the NHQ. With that, I was ushered into the Admiral’s office and that was the first time I saw him.

Without any preamble, the Admiral shot the question, ‘will you take up the job as my Flag Lt?’ I was stunned by the suddenness of it all particularly as I did not know I had an option! Nobody before or thereafter, ever gave me a choice and all my appointments were by an NHQ letter directing me to such-and-such appointment DTBR, which all knowledgable naval personnel know stands for ‘date to be reported’ on assuming the appointment. A ‘yessir’ shot out of my mouth and I was told to go back to NDA, pick up my belongings and return to Delhi pronto.

As it turned out, that ‘yessir’ was the smartest reply I ever uttered for it gave me the opportunity to be close to, observe and learn from perhaps the most intelligent, professional and affable person I have known. It would be presumptuous on my part to list his numerous attributes and achievements. Very briefly though, he was the architect of the modern Indian Navy and a lot of credit for the Navy’s success in the 1971 war should be attributed to him as the acquisition of the missile boats was his brainchild with the project aptly named ‘AK' boats after his initials. Also, the acquisition of submarines and the concept of two fleets each with an aircraft carrier were proposed by him in a ten year plan paper as early as 1947 when at the age of 32, he was Director of Naval Plans in the NHQ. Although approved by the government of the day, the plans remained largely in limbo till fittingly, Admiral Chatterji took over as Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS) in 1966 and began the process of implementing them..

Among his other accomplishments, he was the first Indian Captain of the cruiser Delhi at the age of 35. His handling of that large ship was legendary. He was the first full Admiral in the Indian Navy and after a 4-year term, retired at the age of 55. Today the retiring age of the CNS is 62 and not all are able to complete their 3-year term!

A big benefit of being his Flag Lt was that it gave me an opportunity to be close to his wonderful family. My engagement took place in Delhi and immediately thereafter, Akhila and I proceeded to his house to seek his and Mrs. Chatterji’s blessings. Both of them had always been extremely kind and loving and Mrs. Chatterji continued to shower us with her affection and gifts even after the Admiral had passed away. His elder daughter Bula (Purobi) and her husband Deb Mukharji I have known from the time of their engagement while I was at the NDC. The wedding took place soon after and I never fail to remind them that I was responsible for organizing the ceremony! The younger daughter Tuktuk (Probhati) and her husband Shantanu Mukherjee, who was with Air India, were together with us in Singapore when I was posted in the High Commission as the Defence Adviser and their son Mohit and our children studied together at the United World College. So a short appointment of a year as Flag Lt laid the foundation of a lifelong relationship which Akhila and I strongly cherish.

In a lighter vein, I must recount an unforgettable incident. I was told on taking over my appointment that the Admiral had a very short temper. Somehow, I was lucky never to have been in the firing line while at the NDC. But the fear lurked and I missed incurring his wrath a year later by a hair’s breadth or should I say, by a few rail level crossings!

The Admiral had become the CNS and Avinash Bhatia was his Flag Lt. I learnt that they were proceeding to Kanpur for some official function which coincided with my friend and coursemate, Premvir Das’s wedding. I asked Avinash if I could hitch a ride in the IAF aircraft and he got the Admiral’s OK.

On arrival at Kanpur airport, Army personnel met us, quickly escorted us to a couple of staff cars and spirited us away to far-off Kamala Retreat where arrangements were made for our stay. En route, we encountered a number of level crossings most of which were open so that we made the road journey quite fast. On reaching the Retreat, Admiral and Mrs. Chatterji were taken to their suite and Avinash and I to ours. We then asked the Liaison Officer about our baggage whereupon he retorted, “What baggage?” In all the hurry and flurry, the baggage had been completely forgotten and so was the Admiral’s steward! Frantic efforts were made to contact the airport but given Kanpur’s telecommunications of those days, the efforts were unsuccessful. Meanwhile, the Admiral kept ringing us up to inquire about the baggage and we kept putting him off by reminding him of the level crossings. But we could sense that the Admiral’s fuse was getting shorter by the minute! 

Finally, we got through to the airport and were told that the aircraft had flown back to Delhi and the ATC had no knowledge of any baggage or the missing steward! The earth shook under our feet and Avinash and I started contemplating a career out of the Navy. There was nothing left to do except make a clean breast of it to the Admiral.

Just then, a 3-tonner arrived with the very harassed Admiral’s steward. Fortunately, the worthy had offloaded the baggage from the plane, contacted the Army and requisitioned a vehicle to get to us!

The Admiral was not told of the near disaster, the level crossings were blamed for the delay and the rest of the stay proceeded smoothly. We not only kept our jobs but lasted in the Navy till long after the incident. The Steward was told that he would go far if he kept his mouth shut which he did!

The Admiral was a simple and honest person who endeared himself to all. He would drive to the NDC and back in his personal car eschewing the use of staff car. On tours, gifts such as a bottle of scotch would be shared with the team of officers accompanying him.

Incredibly, our government never conferred any award on him!

DORIS MARY ANNE KAPELHOFF or simply DORIS DAY

Thoughts come and go but some linger. Presently, my mind is on Doris Day and so I decided to revisit her songs.

First, a little about her life. Of German heritage whose grandparents migrated to the US, Doris Day was named Doris Mary Anne Kapelhoff at birth. She wanted to be a dancer but a car accident injured her right leg badly and she decided to switch to singing. She took lessons and her inspiration was Ella Fitzgerald. Soon, her tremendous potential was recognized and she was hired as a professional singer. Her employer, Barney Rapp, felt her name was too long and after her rendition of the song “Day After Day”, shortened her name to Doris Day. Her first hit was “Sentimental Journey” in 1945 after which she went from strength to strength and was considered a singer as good as Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby. From 1949 to 1958, she was No. 1 female vocalist on the US Billboard winning Oscars for Best Original Song for “Secret Love” in the movie “Calamity Jane” in ’54 and and “Que Sera Sera” in ’57.

In the ‘60s, she earned fame as a top actress and made many films with Rock Hudson such as “Pillow Talk” for which she won an Oscar nomination for Best Actress, “Lover Come Back” and “Send Me No Flowers”. Rock Hudson was her lifelong friend but they never married perhaps because, as we surprisingly learnt only after his death, he was gay. In later life, she became an animal welfare activist and lived to the age of 97. She passed away on 13 May 2019, coincidentally 2 1/2 years to the day!

Her married life was not happy and she had four unsuccessful marriages. Fortunately, that does not seem to have affected her singing which was sweet, soft and hopeful though touchingly emotional and romantic.

Reflecting her positive outlook, her songs were not about heartbreaks. But she sang about being careful in giving her heart only to someone who would promise to give all his love in return. “If I Give My Heart To You” has the following lines-

‘If I give my heart to you, will you handle it with care,

Will you always treat me tenderly and in every way be fair,

If I give my heart to you, will you give me all your love,

When you promise all these things to me,

Then I will give my heart to you.’

Love did have her in a spin. In “Bewitched, Bothered And Bewildered”, she sang-

‘I’m wild again, beguiled again, a simpering, whimpering child again,

Bewitched, bothered and bewildered, am I….

Lost my heart but what of it….

I”ll sing to him, each Spring to him,

And long for the day when I cling to him,

Bewitched, bothered and bewildered, am I.’

And then “You Do Something To Me”-

‘Something that simply mystifies me,

Tell me, why should it be, 

You have the power to hypnotize me,

For you do something to me,

That nobody else could do.’

In “Secret Love”, she wished to keep her love within her heart but her lover ‘became impatient to be free’-

‘So I told a friendly star, the way that dreamers often do,

Just how wonderful you are, and why I’m so in love with you….

At last my heart’s an open door,

And my secret love’s no secret any more’.

Just by telling it to a star!

One of the most romantic songs I have ever heard is her “Beautiful Music To Love By”. Switch on the video in which she features with Rock Hudson and waltz the night away with your loved one. In this song, she again goes for a heady spin:

‘There goes the room, round and round like a spinning top,

And my heart’s going dizzy, but don’t let it stop,

Oh, your lips are so thrilling to cling to.

I don’t care, if it’s right or it’s wrong,

This is beautiful music to love by.

Hold me tight, kiss me sweet, love me long.’

In keeping with her optimistic nature, she did a number of light numbers. One of them is “Guy Is A guy”-

‘I walked down the street like a good girl should,

He followed me down the street like I knew he would….

He asked me for a good night kiss,

I said it’s still good day,

I would have told him more instead,

His lips got in my way….

So I walked down the aisle like a good girl should,

He followed me down the aisle like I knew he would,

Because a guy is a guy wherever he may be….’

Then there is “Enjoy Yourself” where she exhorts us to do that before it’s too late-

‘Enjoy yourself, it’s later than you think,

Enjoy yourself, while you’re still in the pink,

The years go by, as quickly as a wink, 

Enjoy yourself, enjoy yourself, it’s later than you think.’

Her laissez faire attitude stood out in the number which promptly won everyone’s heart. It was “Que Sera Sera” which she sings while putting her son to bed in the Alfred Hitchcock movie “The Man Who Knew Too Much”. I am sure many mothers still sing it to their children and the lyrics are known to most us. But I loved it when Vinnie Mama used to sing his Hindi translation-

‘Jab mein ek chhoti ladki thi, maine Amma se poocha mera kya hoga,

Kya mein khubsurat banoogi, amir banoogi, Amma ne yeh bola,

Que sera sera, jo hona hai so hoga,

Aage ki kuchh pata nahin hai,

Jo hoga so hoga, Que sera sera.’

To end, let’s go back to her first hit, “Sentimental journey”-

‘Gonna take a sentimental journey….

To renew old memories, 

Gonna take a sentimental journey,

Sentimental journey home.’

And I am headed for Jaipur!

P.S. I don’t follow present day pop music much. But by chance, I discovered someone who appealed to me as a modern Doris Day. She is the Belgian dinger Dana Winner. Her “One Moment In Time” is brilliant-

‘Give me one moment in time, when I’m racing with destiny,

Then in that one moment of time,

I will feel, I will feel eternity’.

There is more where that comes from!

SONGS THAT MELT MY HEART

 

I don’t know if I could ever have qualified to be amongst “Hearts (Made) Of Stone” as the Fontaine Sisters sang in my youthful days. But I know that with age, my heart seems to be transforming into butter with an ever decreasing melting point which reaches its lowest with music and certain songs. The songs don’t need to be sad nor are my tears that of sorrow. It is just that some emotional chord gets touched by some tunes, lyrics and nostalgia.

Lately, the song which has been stirring my emotions is Louis ‘Satchmo’ Armstrong’s “We Have All The Time In The World”. I have always loved that song but its revival with the movie “No Time To Die” has brought it back in my thoughts. It was very touching to learn how its composer John Barry specially sought the ailing Satchmo to record virtually the latter’s last song. Satchmo was not even able to play the trumpet which was typical of most of his songs and the instrument was played by a member of the orchestra. The lyrics of the song are great but it is the trumpet piece ending the song which keeps blowing my mind.

Another John Barry composition that I find extremely touching is “You Only Live Twice”. Its opening bars leading to Nancy Sinatra’s superb vocal rendition make it irresistible. Its intriguing lyrics say, “You only live twice…. one life for yourself and one for your dreams. You drift through the years and life seems tame, till one dream appears and love is its name.” Love may be dangerous but if you think of the danger, the dream will be gone and you will continue to live only one tame life!

Two Christmas songs sung by ‘the old groaner’ Bing Crosby have always overwhelmed me. ‘White Christmas’ is pure nostalgia and ‘Silent Night, Holy Night’ movingly emotional. These songs transport me back to my school days and I can picture old Father Mackessack, my class teacher when I first joined St. Xavier's Jaipur, teaching us these songs.

Another old song that never fails to choke my throat is “If I Loved You” from the musical “Carousel”. Two lovers, Julie and Billy, ponder over what life would be like if they were in love but are hesitant to admit the attraction they feel for each other. “If I loved you, ….Words wouldn’t come in an easy way, round in circles I’d go….Soon you’d leave me, never never to know, how I loved you, if I loved you”.

In early 60s came the movie “Lovers Must Learn” with “Al Di La” hypnotisingly sung by Emilio Pericoli in a restaurant in which Troy Donahue and Susanne Pleshette walk in. I would like to think that it was this song that made them fall in love in real life and get married. I find the song touchingly romantic.

One of my personal favourites is “Feelings” originally sung by the Brazilian singer Morris Albert in 1974 and further popularized by Shirley Bassey and a host of top artistes from Frank Sinatra to Julio Iglesias. Despite its popularity, its lyrics have been criticized by many as insignificant. I, however, find them moving, aided by the way the song is sung. Its theme is the singer’s inability in ‘trying to forget my feelings of love’ followed by ‘feelings like I’ve never lost you, and feelings like I’ve never have you again in my arms’.

Most people are moved by the song “Memory” from the musical “Cats”. The original was by Elaine Paige but a very popular version is by Barbara Streisand. The famous Andrew Lloyd Webber composed the music while its hugely emotional lyrics by Trevor Nunn were based on poems of TS Eliot. I often listen to it driving from Delhi to Jaipur making efforts to keep composed with Akhila watching silently as she is quite used to this by now and has stopped inquiring if something is wrong! Let me recap a few lines:

“Memory, All alone in the moonlight,

I can smile at the old days, I was beautiful then,

I remember the time I knew what happiness was,

Let the memory, live again.

Daylight, I must wait for the sunrise

I must think of a new life....

When the dawn comes, tonight will be a memory too

And a new day will begin....

If you touch me, you'll understand what happiness is,

Look, a new day has begun."

Like I said in an earlier post, most songs by ABBA tug at the heartstrings because of their emotional lyrics. Here, I will confine myself to two which are touching for the resolve, hope and urge to look at the brighter side of life. The first one is “Chiquitita” which is about supporting a friend and exhorting her to get over her heartache. The lyrics would melt the hardest of hearts-

‘Chiquitita…. You’re enchained by your own sorrow’

In your eyes there is no hope for tomorrow….

I’m a shoulder to cry on, your best friend , I’m the one you must rely on….

Heartaches come and they go and the scars they are leaving….

But the sun is still in the sky and shining above you,

Try once more like you did before, sing a new song, Chiquitita.’ 

In the second song, “I Have A Dream”, the singer is determined to getting over life’s difficulties and reach the desired destination at the right time:

‘I have a dream, a fantasy,

To help me through reality,

And my destination, makes it worth the while,

Pushing through the darkness, yet another mile,

I believe in angels, something good in every thing I see….

I believe in angels, when I know the time is right for me,

I’ll cross the stream, I have a dream.’

In addition to the vocals, what stimulates the tear ducts is the brilliant instrumentation at the beginning of “I Have A Dream” and towards the end of both songs.

We were in Singapore when the movie “Top Gun” was released in 1986. Its theme song was “Take My Breath Away”. The sweet melody is particularly touching when the characters superbly played by Tom Cruise and Kelly McGillis have a misunderstanding and make up soon after. Whenever I hear the song, it takes me back to the wonderful years we spent in Singapore watching Ruchir and Shumita grow up from kids to their teens.

Then there is the Demis Roussos classic “Goodbye My Love Goodbye”. Beautifully sung in his romantic, sentimental style, its lyrics are hugely emotional:

“Goodbye my love goodbye, Goodbye and au revoir,

As long as you remember me I’ll never be too far.

Goodbye my love goodbye, I always will be true,

So hold me in your dreams ‘til I come back to you.”

There are more such songs but for now, my hanky is wet- I’ll go get a towel!

 

P.S. Surfing through YouTube on the TV, I chanced upon Dana Winner- ‘One Moment In Time’ performed live. The audience consisted of very young people and everyone was in tears entranced by the song. I found it reassuring- it is not only old geezers like me but the youth too who get emotionally affected by songs!

COLOUR BLIND PASSES COLOUR VISION TEST WITH FLYING COLOURS

 

Talk about a sailor less qualified, here is an amazing true story.

I was undergoing my Sub Lt’s courses in Cochin in 1960 and was on duty one evening under the Officer of the Day (OOD), Lt BR Bakshi. The duty room was facing the Ernakulam Channel and I noticed a vessel displaying some coloured lights passing by. I pointed this out to Lt Bakshi and asked him if he knew whether the lights signified anything or were just for decoration. His reply, “I can only see white!”

I was a bit flabbergasted and asked him if he could not see the colours and he replied “No, I can’t.” I then asked him how he managed to be in the Navy and that too in the Executive Branch where colour vision is of the utmost importance for night watches at sea where the entire Rules of the Road (Sea traffic rules) are based on distinguishing between colours particularly red and green. Here is Lt Bakshi’s story.

Bakshi joined the Navy as a non-commissioned sailor. He was very intelligent and his talents were recognized early by his seniors. He was made a CW (Commission Worthy) candidate and he passed all tests required to qualify to become an officer of the Executive branch. Finally, there was the medical examination which included a colour vision test.

To recap how a colour vision test is conducted, the doctor has a book of about 50-60 pages. On each page which are as usual numbered in black and white, there is a diagram of multi-coloured dots enclosing a random number in one particular colour which the candidate has to read out.  If the reader is colour blind, he would not be able to discern the number.

Bakshi knew he was colour blind. So he got hold of the book that was going to be used for his test and got someone to write the coloured number and memorized it corresponding to the page number. For example, he committed to memory that on page 15, the coloured number was, say, 23. During the test, he read the page number and rattled off the memorized coloured number! As you would appreciate, an excellent memory was required to perform this task which Bakshi obviously possessed and he passed the test with ease.

The cat was out of the bag when Bakshi was posted on a ship for his watchkeeping ticket. He had then to confess that he could not see colours. I guess the Navy could have dismissed him but recognizing his other good qualities and taking a benevolent view, the authorities decided to use his talents elsewhere. So Bakshi was not sent to sea and branched off to become a Physical Training Instructor ashore.

WE HAVE ALL THE TIME IN THE WORLD-NO TIME TO DIE

In February 2020, Akhila and I saw "Little Women" in Jaipur. Then the pandemic struck, cinema halls were forced to close down and an about-to-be released "No Time To Die", the latest James Bond movie, had to wait as, quite rightly, such a movie had to be seen in a theatre and not on the telly screen. After 18 months, picture halls have opened up again and James Bond is back. So we plucked up courage and went to see it back in Jaipur as that is where we are now. In a hall of 400 capacity, I counted 14 viewers including us. That would meet the approval of Mr. Modi as far as sosal distancing or 'do gaj ki doori' is concerned.

In an extraordinary coincidence as the movie well-preceded the outbreak of Covid, the story revolves around the theft of an engineered DNA through which the villain wants to develop a weapon of mass destruction. Talk of the theory propounded by many that Covid broke out of a Chinese lab!

The movie is typical modern James Bond stuff: technical brilliance, exquisite cinematography with a lot of scenic Italy and icescape, breathtaking car sequences, innovative gadgets developed by Q and almost non-stop action portraying the apparent invincibility of Bond though with a little more than usual emotional scenes of love, trust and family on the part of the normally stoic 007. Lasting over two and three quarter hours, it sets a record for being the longest Bond movie. Largely, critics have praised it as a fitting finale to Daniel Craig as he has declared that this is the last Bond movie he is doing. Remains to be seen if like Sean Connery he may be reminded in future "Never Say Never Again"!

Frankly, we did not think that highly of the movie. Maybe we are a bit old for this kind of stuff and prefer something simple and romantic like "The Last Letter From Your Lover", for me the best movie I have seen in recent times. But I did love Bond movies of old made even more enjoyable with the music of my top favourite movie music composer, John Barry. Again, I guess age comes into play for I know that my daughter and grandchildren love Billie Eilish's rendition of the theme song "No Time To Die". But for the life of me, I cannot imagine it merits comparison with Shirley Bassey's "Goldfinger" and "Diamonds Are Forever", Tom Jones' "Thunderball", Nancy Sinatra's "You Only Live Twice" or "Louis 'Satchmo' Armstrong's "We Have All The Time In The World".

Even the makers of the latest movie have harked back to the past by reviving the last named song. Not only is the song played in full during the final credits but is referred to a number of times in the dialogues. For instance, Bond's love interest Madeleine asks him in a car drive to go faster eliciting his reply, "We have all the time in the world". In another scene, Madeleine says, "We need more time" only to be told by James, "You have all the time in the world".

That is the big irony of it: in the end, neither James Bond nor Daniel Craig playing his last Bond film has time on his side! This irony has its origin in the movie "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" in 1969 with Louis Armstrong singing the song while a tearful Bond cradles his dying young wife in his arms. "We have all the time in the world" are also Bond's final words both in the book and the movie.

But the biggest irony was in real life. John Barry homed in on Louis Armstrong because he felt that only the latter could deliver the lines with the required irony. By that time, Satchmo was very ill and the song had to be recorded in a single session. Satchmo was too weak to pick up his trumpet which was then played by a substitute in an enchanting refrain. Satchmo was running out of time and this was his last recording session as he died shortly after. John Barry fondly recalled the pleasure of working with Satchmo and himself considered it the finest piece of music he wrote for a Bond movie.  

So tell me, do we really have all the time in the world or is it just a self-delusion?

P.S. A dear friend told me after one of my blogs, "Ravi, I now know what you are; you are a romantic." Careful not to hurt my feelings, a qualifying adjective like 'pseudo' was conveniently omitted!